Bobby Broom: Swept Away by the Music

Bobby Broom is a veteran jazz guitarist, originally from New York City and currently operating from the Chicago jazz scene. He's been the staple side dish of soul and jazz for over thirteen years at Pete Miller's Steakhouse in Evanston, IL. He's also busy performing regularlynot only Chi-town, but throughout the world with his own groups, the Bobby Broom Trio and the Deep Blue Organ Trio, and with saxophone icon Sonny Rollins. But Plays for Monk (Origin, 2009) is a true standout among his many accolades. Alongside bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Kobie Watkins, Broom displays a craft that is based in rich character, deep grooves and the true spirit of this music.

Although guitar was never featured on Thelonious Monk's recordings, Broom's sheer love of his music and personable approach make this a recording for any Monk or Bobby Broom fan. Broom's choice of repertoire is intriguing, as it isn't material traditionally covered from Monk's book.

All About Jazz: Tell me about your newest recording, Plays for Monk. What fueled your decision to put out a tribute CD, when there are already so many out there?

Bobby Broom: In a broad sense I think this is a tribute to one of the greatest figures in jazz. We're dealing with his musicianship and his musical personality, his persona and image... Monk's got the whole package. He was one of the greatest iconic figures in this music. When I think about the jazz image, he's one of the guys that come to mind. I think of Miles Davis and Sonny, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, etc. I think of people with personalities that pan out to their music and Monk is the thread.

Also, his contributions, both compositionally and as a soloist, were so different yet so immediate for his time. These are things that are very striking and lasting for all of us. Earlier on, I had thought about doing a solo guitar record of all Monk tunes but that seemed too odd and hefty an endeavor, and was not what I needed to be doing. I'm trying to develop myself and this group to get more recognition and visibility, and that wasn't going to be the way to go about it. In thinking about his music further I began to realize that I needed to do a Monk record with tunes that suit me and what he represents to me. This way I could represent my vision of him to listeners. It was quite a process to find tunes that were the right fit, not to mention I was keeping my group in mind and how we sound and go about our music.

AAJ: Once you finally decided on doing a Monk tribute, what was your process of going from idea to recording?

BB: I immersed myself in his music and tried to pick the right things for me. I picked a couple of tunes that he didn't write but that I associated with him, especially "Lulu's Back in Town." I wasn't one hundred percent sure about the idea of doing his music, even up to the day of the first rehearsal. I was having second thoughts about whether it was too contrived an idea, or whether it was going to come across right. They were just ideas, at the time, about possibilities. I kept second-guessing myself until the first rehearsal. Once that was over I realized these decisions were fine and we began to embrace the music, eventually making it sound like us.

AAJ: How does the dynamic of your group differ onstage in your regular gig than it does when you're in a studio?

BB: The studio is obviously a controlled environment and the stage is not. You have to take what you get in the live environment, and often, success requires a certain amount of familiarity. You have to be familiar with the people you're playing with and hopefully the chemistry and synchronicity come together. With that simpatico going on you can work well together.

Having recorded this music as a group, when we get together live, we know how we want it to sound and what we have to do to recreate that feeling. I guess it's not necessarily recreating it but living up to that recording in a live performance and feeling good about what it is we're doing. We got good results in the studio for this record. We felt comfortable and most of the tracks are first or second takes. This time around being in the studio was a relaxed and relatively leisurely environment. That's not always the case, but we were fortunate and as a result it was fairly easy to produce results that we were happy with.

AAJ: Ideally, if you could reach out to your listeners with this music, what is it that you want them to hear?

BB: I want them to hear the feelings I have inside, that's what this music is about for me. I want them to hear it and know it's me. This is hopefully happening more and more when people listen to me. I'm going to keep working to try to fulfill that. I guess we all want to have a sound that's recognizable. We all have this, but a large part of this is producing enough of a body of work, and making that work interesting enough to keep people's attention over a period of time. It's not easy to do this, but this is what I try for.

I grew up listening to my father's jazz records and listening to the radio. My dad was a musician for many years as a vocalist, bassist and drummer. His two uncles played in the Symphony of Reggio Calabria back in Italy

I grew up listening to my father's jazz records and listening to the radio. My dad was a musician for many years as a vocalist, bassist and drummer. His two uncles played in the Symphony of Reggio Calabria back in Italy. So music and jazz specifically have been a part of me since I was born. I love and perform in all styles of music from around the world. Improvisation in jazz is what drew me in, and still does as well as other genres that feature improvisation. A group of great musicians expressing themselves as one is the hallmark of great jazz and in fact all great music.